


we wanna play this part

by destiny919, MagicalSpaceDragon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Garrison Silver Trio, Gen, Happy Birthday Keith, Keith's Birthday Week 2017, M/M, i think that's the tag for this??? woo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 13:48:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12483064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destiny919/pseuds/destiny919, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicalSpaceDragon/pseuds/MagicalSpaceDragon
Summary: The three of them are just hanging out in Matt and Shiro's room, playing a "friendly" game of Mario Kart, and Shiro's just blue-shelled Matt out of his commanding lead when Keith says it."My birthday is on Monday." So offhand, like he hasn't dropped a bomb on the other two.Except he's clearly aware he has, from the way he zooms ahead of them both and passes the finish line while they're still reeling.





	we wanna play this part

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains several interconnected headcanons that you will also see in other fics of ours featuring Keith and Matt Holt, many of which are on their way.
> 
> The one that requires most explanation is the nickname "Bambi," which Matt bestowed upon Keith because he reminds him of a baby deer, all big dark eyes and skinny legs.
> 
> Also, pay no attention to the date- Space and I got trapped in a time vortex, as we all do from time to time. Happy Birthday, Keith!!!!

The three of them are just hanging out in Matt and Shiro's room, playing a "friendly" game of Mario Kart, and Shiro's just blue-shelled Matt out of his commanding lead when Keith says it. 

"My birthday is on Monday." So offhand, like he hasn't dropped a bomb on the other two. 

Except he's clearly aware he has, from the way he zooms ahead of them both and passes the finish line while they're still reeling. 

"Is it really your birthday next week?" Matt demands, putting the controller down. 

"Yeah." Keith shrugs. "Not really a big deal." 

"But you're turning 18," Matt moans. "That's like, the biggest deal there is! Well," he adds with a wicked grin at Shiro, "except 21."

The 22 year old in question blanches at the memory. "We are  _ not _ taking Keith to Las Vegas," he threatens. "He's still not old enough for that."

"You went to Vegas for your 21st birthday?" Keith says bemusedly. 

"Fuck, dude, he sure did," Matt confirms, proud as anything. 

"I was  _ dragged," _ Shiro says. "I just wanted something nice and quiet."

"Dude," Matt says, "you were turning 21, no way were we not pulling out all the stops!"

"You had already done that the year before because it was actually a leap year!" Shiro fires back. "You snuck in three kegs!"

"Hey, it's not every year your best bro turns five," Matt says. "And you broke your own record for doing keg stands, in case you forgot. You've already broken a good three-quarters of Shiro's records, Bambi, you wanna go for another?"

"Absolutely not," Keith deadpans. "I wouldn't dream of dethroning him in that area. Seriously, guys, I don't want anything." He turns back to the game, and Matt and Shiro exchange a look over his head. 

Even if they aren't going to Vegas, there's no way Keith isn't getting some kind of birthday celebration. 

.

 

The only question is  _ what.  _ Keith doesn't really have other friends at the Garrison (despite Matt and Shiro's best efforts) and even if he did, they can admit that Keith would hate a party, especially a surprise one. If they were dumb enough to try and pull that, they would at best get Keith walking right back out without a word, and at worst, his weird wickedly sharp knife would be embedded somewhere knives shouldn't be. Like a table, or an arm. 

So, a party is out. That pretty much leaves gifts. 

Matt lies on his bed, tossing and catching an old birthday gift of his own, a plush rubix cube. It had been specially-ordered to look finished, because if there were an unsolved rubix cube that Matt couldn't fiddle with (AKA solve in thirty seconds) it would drive him insane. And even Pidge, his troll of a little sister, wouldn't have given him a birthday gift that cruel. 

Shiro, for his own part, is pacing back and forth, wringing his hands and rambling. 

"What would he like? He already has a bike and a dozen different knives and all the extra sim hours he wants. I'd get him some real flight time, but even  _ I _ couldn't convince Iverson..."

"You could always give him a blowjob," Matt says idly. "I bet he'd like that."

Shiro chokes. "Don't- Don't even joke about that."

He rolls his eyes. Honestly, he hadn't been joking. But whatever. He's learned better than to try and actually push either of them on their big fat stupid crushes. And Shiro's already started rambling again. 

"Look," Matt interrupts. "Keith would prefer something lowkey, we both know that."

"Yeah," Shiro says dubiously. 

"Sooo... let's think small but special?" Matt says. "What would just let Keith know we care about him and his birthday?"

"Honestly?" Shiro tugs on his ridiculous front tuft of hair. "He'd probably just like taking a trip out into the desert." His eyes start lighting up and Matt feels immediate trepidation. "We could bring a picnic with his favorite foods. And a cake, of course."

"Of course." At least one thing will be edible. Keith has the weirdest fucking favorite foods and Shiro knows every single last damn one of them. Matt would too, except some he's just blocked out of his conscious memory. "What about class? His birthday is Monday."

Shiro makes a face. "I hate to do it, but we'll have to go out on Sunday instead."

"Wow, wouldn't have expected you to fold so easily on this," Matt says, regretting the words even as they come out of his mouth. Nobody gets into the Galaxy Garrison without a serious competitive streak, and Shiro is quite possibly the most tenacious motherfucker he's ever met.

Predictably, Shiro's eyes gleam with renewed fire. "Monday it is."

.

 

"Okay." Shiro checks his phone. "Keith's classes ended half an hour ago, and since we're both skipping Montgomery's lecture-"

"The things I do for friends," Matt interrupts, pretending to be chagrined, except he would have skipped Montgomery for something much, much less important than Keith's birthday. 

"-That gives us plenty of time to get out to the desert and have a good time. You got the food?" 

Matt covers his eyes with his free hand. "Yes. Yes I do. Remember, Shiro, this is where you have laid your affections, and I, my truest friendship."

"I know," Shiro says proudly. As if he isn't at all perturbed that his crush's favorite foods, to be consumed on his sacred birthday, are things like pickled eggs and black olives and raw rhubarb. You can't even get raw rhubarb in October, thank god, so that's one mortifying item not present in the adorable woven picnic basket Shiro had gotten from  _ somewhere.  _ Matt is the one who'd had the foresight to actually put the food into an insulated cooler bag, and then put that in the storybook carrying container. The one normal item present inside it is peanut butter cookies, which became Keith's lone regular-person vice after Pidge and Mom sent Matt a care package full of the homemade delectables, and Matt had so kindly allowed Keith to eat half of them and then cry on Matt's bed for an hour.

They stand outside Keith's door, armed with the picnic basket and a singular determination to give their best friend a good birthday. Shiro raises his hand and confidently knocks. 

No answer. 

Frowning slightly, Shiro knocks again.

No answer. 

Matt finally pushes him to the side and pounds on the door. "Open up, Bambi, it's your friends! We've got food and stupid plans! You know you can't resist!"

At this, Keith deigns to answer the door. He's wearing headphones and an irate expression. "What stupid plans?"

"Trust me, they're not as stupid as the food." Matt moves past him to barge inside the messy room. 

Keith is one of the few underclassmen who has a single- not because he just got lucky like that, but because no roommate had stuck. Every time another one of them had filed for a room switch, Keith hadn't given a damn, Shiro had been personally offended on his behalf, and Matt had crossed his fingers, until finally they just granted Keith a single officially and Matt had the assurance that once his two best friends finally got their shit together, he wouldn't be getting regularly sexiled from his own room.

"Put on those gogo boots, buddy, we're going out to celebrate your birthday!" Matt declares. 

On cue, Keith mutters, "They're not gogo boots, they're for riding motorcycles."

"And you have a hoverbike." He raises his eyebrows. "Well? Are you coming?"

"I promise you'll like it," Shiro says, looking at Keith with irresistable gray eyes. 

And yet, for once, Keith remains made of stone. "Guys," he says, dead serious, "today is a much more important date than my birthday."

Matt frowns. Is it also International Knife Appreciation Day and he forgot to mark his calendar?

"What's more important than your birthday?" Shiro asks, bewildered. If pressed, Shiro would probably think Keith's birthday is more important than his own birthday, the Fourth of July, his  _ mother's _ birthday, Christmas, New Year's, and the Garrison's monthly Mac and Cheese Day all together. Matt can forgive all the other ones, but he draws the line at the last. 

Wordlessly, Keith shows them his laptop screen. It's open to a Wikipedia page. 

It reads as follows:  _ "The Black Parade  _ is the third studio album by American rock band My Chemical Romance. Released on October 23rd, 2006..."

"You emo little shit," Matt says in awe. "This is the greatest thing I've ever heard in my life. Is that what you do on your birthday every year, sit in your room and listen to MCR?"

Keith nods, intense as he is about anything he thinks is important, which is to say,  _ very _ . 

Matt is about to announce that this year he'd be doing something different, or that he could bring his phone and his emo bands out to the desert, but Shiro beats him to the punch. "We could hang out and listen to them with you," the smitten asshole offers. Matt starts making frantic  _ cease-and-desist _ gestures as soon as Keith's back is turned, but Shiro ignores him, eyes alight with the terrible need to make Bambi happy. Matt can sympathize with that, at least. 

"Really?" Keith says, obviously pleased. Oh, hell.

"Really," Matt says, and Shiro nods. "It's your birthday, Bambi, we gotta do what you wanna do. And hey, we've got the picnic with us already."

"Do you have-"

"Yes, we have pickled eggs," Matt says. "And peanut butter cookies."

"Thanks, you guys," he says, so earnest it's physically painful. "You didn't have to."

"Yes we did," Shiro insists, his entire brick shithouse body made of melting butter for that boy's shining eyes. 

The three of them hunker down on Keith's half-made bed and Matt cobbles together a decent set of speakers while Shiro lays out the disgusting food, and Keith keeps trying to hide his tiny smile. He's failing. 

A single G note rings through the room, and Keith beams around his third peanut butter cookie. 

**Author's Note:**

> you can find [destiny](http://tarvek-sturmvoraus.tumblr.com/) and [space](http://magicalspacedragon.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


End file.
